JAKE DANNA STEVENS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Scranton Cultural Center at The Masonic Temple employees including, from left, Larry Hickernell Sr., Craig Tambeau and John Cardoni, are gearing up for the tour of "Jersey Boys," whose stop in Scranton will necessitate some changes to the venue.

'Jersey Boys" will bring much more than its Tony Award-winning story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons to Scranton next month.

The show's two-week stay at Scranton Cultural Center at The Masonic Temple will require the building to undergo some changes to accommodate the larger-than-usual sets and, organizers estimate, generate upward of $3.5 million for the city's economy.

Preparations to the cultural center will begin several days in advance of the show, which Broadway Theatre League of Northeastern Pennsylvania will present there Tuesdays through Sundays from Feb. 4 to 16. Work will include expanding the stage into the adjacent ballroom and erecting, tearing down, rebuilding and tearing down a temporary loading dock.

The amount of people and the preparation time needed make setting up the show an "enormous undertaking," said Don Martin, business representative of Local 329, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

"We've been working on this for a year," he said. "We've had people from the show come out to the venue and do site surveys. ... The head carpenter for the show has been out here twice, getting a lot of weights, getting all our ducks in order."

Coup for Scranton

The cultural center will be the smallest venue in the nation in which the show has played, said Albert Nocciollino, president of NAC Entertainment, Broadway Theater League's partner in presenting shows in Scranton. "Jersey Boys" typically plays metropolitan areas larger than Scranton, so bringing it here was a "major coup," said Tony Nicosia, the league's executive director.

"To try to convince 'Jersey Boys' that it would be potentially feasible was a big feat in itself because of the smaller seating capacity and the limitations of the stage," Mr. Nicosia said.

Typically, shows the league brings to Scranton perform one weekend from Friday to Saturday and have about four equipment trucks, Mr. Martin said. But "Jersey Boys" will stay for around two weeks and uses 10 trucks, mostly tractor-trailers.

Shows like this that stretch the abilities at the cultural center come along every few years, said John Cardoni, the building's facility and technical director.

"A lot of the stuff becomes routine after a while, so to be able to accommodate a show like this makes us think outside the box," he said.

Because the cultural center does not have a loading dock big enough to accommodate the set, workers will build a temporary one. Since they cannot close Dix Court behind the theater for the show's duration, however, they will have to dismantle the dock and then rebuild it to remove the sets when the show ends. They also will expand the stage 6 to 8 feet back into the ballroom to make the set fit.

"The only other show that we've done back into the ballroom was when we did the first national tour of 'Les Miserables,'" Mr. Martin said. "We had to go back into the ballroom, had to make the orchestra pit bigger, had to put a scissor lift into the alleyway. (But) we really haven't had a show this size ever."

Pennsylvania company Sapsis Rigging Inc. has built a special rig just to support the top half of a two-part video wall that serves as the set's background and totals 14,000 pounds, Mr. Cardoni said.

The show will use approximately 70 people from the local crew, including carpenters, sound operators and electricians, Mr. Martin said,

"The more shows, the more employment we have (and) the better it is for everybody," Mr. Martin said.

Economic boost

The employment the 16 performances will provide for the local union workers is just part of the economic benefit organizers expect. The people traveling with the show will fill 70 or 80 hotel rooms each night, Mr. Nocciollino said, plus cast, crew and audience members likely will frequent downtown businesses like restaurants. That economic benefit then will trickle down, he noted, pointing out how busier restaurants would mean using more servers and ordering more food, thereby providing those workers and suppliers with more revenue, and so on.

"It's not just what we'll be spending or the people we bring to town will be spending - it's the way it starts to manifest," Mr. Nocciollino said.

While a typical Broadway Theater League show staying for a weekend generates around $500,000 or $600,000 for the local economy, Mr. Nocciollino said, "Jersey Boys" could generate $3 million to $3.5 million.

"It's huge for the region in terms of what it brings in here," Mr. Cardoni said.

Mr. Nocciollino said they already have sold around 70 percent of the show's tickets, and he expects to have close to capacity audiences when "Jersey Boys" opens.

"This is a show that resonates really, really well," Mr. Nocciollino said. "The marketplace seems to like this show and music and identifies with 'Jersey Boys' and Frankie Valli."

A positive response also could help the league attract similar-sized shows in the future, Mr. Nicosia noted.

"If it's successful financially and successful artistically, I'm sure that we will have proven to producers out there that Scranton is a viable town to bring in larger shows in a relatively shorter amount of time rather than waiting years and years," he said.

Details: Tickets are $37, $53 and $63 and are available at the box office, over the phone at 570-342-7784 or 800-745-3000, or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

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